Jailed: Shropshire man broke own cousin's cheekbone with headbutt

A man who headbutted his cousin and left him with a broken cheek bone has been locked up for almost two years.

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Joel Evans was so badly injured he was taken to hospital and subsequently underwent surgery for plates to be inserted in his jaw following the incident, which happened in Market Drayton, in January 2018.

He was attacked by his cousin Matthew Evans, 33, over a family disagreement.

Miss Gemma Maxwell, prosecuting barrister, said: “The circumstances are that on January 19 last year Joel Evans the complainant and a cousin was at his sister’s address.

"He had decided to invite the defendant round for a drink and he came at about 6.30pm.

“They shared a can or two of lager.

“Joel Evans says essentially that everything was fine until a comment was made about an ‘estranged father’.

"He says then out of nowhere the defendant headbutted him on the left side of his face then proceeded to punch him three or four times. Police officers were called.”

Mr Evans was taken to Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital where he was found to have suffered a displaced fracture of the cheek, cuts and bruises. He was operated on on February 27.

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In his victim impact statement Mr Evans said: “Since the incident I hardly go out. I am paranoid and when I do go out on the odd occasion I have to be with someone else. I just don’t want to be in Market Drayton.”

Temper

Evans, of no fixed abode, admitted an offence of wounding ahead of a trial at Shrewsbury on Tuesday. He had previously denied the offence, but changed his plea.

Mr Adrian Roberts, defending, said: “The case is about two relatives who were involved in an argument over family matters.”

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He said his client had a “short temper” and was hoping to attend anger management courses in custody.

Matthew Evans, a serving prisoner, had previously been jailed for 10 weeks on April 1 for a separate offence of battery.

In the wounding case he was jailed for 21 months to run consecutively to the battery term. He must serve half the latest sentence before his release.

Judge Peter Barrie said there was no financial penalty due to the length of the sentence.

He said the defendant’s previous convictions for similar offences including for an incident in 2011 where another victim was headbutted and punched were aggravating factors considered when sentencing him.

“Your record shows that you have a worrying tendency to lose self-control when reacting towards people, even your family and relatives.

"That is what happened on this occasion when you were feeling upset and you lashed out by headbutting and caused serious injury.”